Massage has always been considered and will travel down the same road as the most beneficial way of relaxing by various sportsperson such as athletes, coaches and various sports physical therapists. Massage when done in an effective manner is known to provide very good effects on the body of sports persons such as it helps in improving the blood pressure of an individual by increasing the blood flow across the veins and brain which is really good for health. A massage is known to be used by various athletes who participate in marathons as a technique to enhance their performance and results in a natural way.

There are many more benefits which are associated with the use of massage in sports:

Massage helps in increasing flexibility which is a very important factor in sports as sportsmen with more flexibility has less chances of injuries. Different sports coaches always recommend the use of massage in sports.

Massage helps in strengthening muscles.

A sports person who practices massage therapy tends to recover earlier from sports related injuries than the person who doesn’t practice massage therapy.

There are many ways and many massage therapies which are prevalent among sportsperson across the world and some of those techniques are discussed below:

Effleurage technique: This type of massage therapy involves techniques which are used to cover the length of the muscles from top to the bottom. In this technique various pressure points of the body are stimulated with hands.

Petrissage technique: This type of massage therapy involves techniques such as scooping, kneading and wringing. This type of technique requires application of deep pressure to body points.

Deep transverse friction massage: This type of massage therapy is basically called as cross-friction massage and applies crossover motions to stimulate a particular muscle of the body.

Apart from the points mentioned above there are many other benefits of using massage in sports such as it helps relieve muscle ache and pain. A massage also helps an athlete prepare for the competition in a relaxed and easy manner. A good sports massage involves coverage of sports-specific movements and to cover these sports-specific movements various sports physical therapists across the world apply the trigger point massage therapy.

As per medical studies it has been found that there are several trigger points connected to various muscles in our body and trigger point therapy involves finding these trigger points so the muscle connected with that trigger point can be controlled.

Another most common technique which is being used is called as myofasical release. This technique involves the application of sustained pressure to be given to the entire muscle. This technique helps in relieving the pressure of the muscle and helps in improving the blood flow across that particular muscle. All these techniques help in reducing the risks of injuries such as muscle tear or a strain and also helps in improving the elasticity of body tissues. These techniques also improve the blood flow across the body and helps in the muscles to recover much faster and smooth.

From the traditional times it has been like a ritual to massage one’s body after or before playing any sport. It is this ritual coupled with a lot of scientific logic which is followed even today and this is what makes a sportsperson capable of reaching the highest pinnacles of success.